1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1945, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1946 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1946, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The Oklahoma A&M Aggies won their second NCAA national championship with a 43–40 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Season headlines

 * The Middle Atlantic States Conference North began play, with five original members.
 * The New England Conference disbanded at the end of the season.
 * The 1946 NCAA tournament was the first NCAA tournament in which four teams (California, North Carolina, Ohio State, and Oklahoma A&M) advanced to the finals site. However, they advanced from two regional sites, so the NCAA does not consider the first "true" Final Four to have occurred until the 1952 tournament, when the four teams advanced from four separate regional sites.
 * The NCAA tournament began holding a national third-place game between the teams which lost in the semifinals. The national third-place game continued through the 1981 tournament.
 * Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M became the first player to dunk in the NCAA championship game, doing so twice late in the game on March 26.
 * Oklahoma A&M defeated North Carolina 43–40 in the championship game of the 1946 NCAA tournament, becoming the first school to repeat as NCAA champion, following its tournament championship in 1945.
 * Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M became the first two-time NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player. He previously had received the honor in 1945.
 * For the first time, the NCAA tournament championship game was televised. WCBS-TV aired the game locally in New York City, with an estimated viewership of 500,000.
 * In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Oklahoma A&M as its national champion for the 1945–46 season.

Semifinals & finals

 * Third Place – Ohio State 63, California 45

Semifinals & finals

 * Third Place – West Virginia 65, Muhlenberg 40

Major player of the year awards

 * Helms Player of the Year: Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M

Other major awards

 * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Sid Tanenbaum, NYU

Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.